Edith "Didi" Conn (née Bernstein; born July 13, 1951) is an American actress. She is best known for her work as Frenchy in Grease, Denise Stevens Downey in Benson and Stacy Jones in Shining Time Station.

Early life Edith Bernstein was born on July 13, 1951, in New York, New York. She had a Conservative "holiday Jewish" upbringing.

Career Conn made her debut as an actress in the 1960s. Her characters since the 1970s, when she became prominent, include Laurie Robinson in You Light Up My Life (1977; Kasey Cisyk provided the character's singing voice), Frenchy in the feature films Grease (1978) and Grease 2 (1982), Helen on The Practice (1976–1977), Denise Stevens Downey on Benson (1981–1984), and Stacy Jones on Shining Time Station (1989–1995). She later reprised her role as Shining Time Station manager in Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000).

Conn provided the voice for Raggedy Ann in the animated feature Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977) directed by Richard Williams. She appeared as a celebrity guest on game shows like Match Game, The $20,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 Pyramids, Whew!, Chain Reaction, and Go.

As a theatre actress, she was involved with Broadway productions of Lost in Yonkers (1991), The Green Bird (2000), and Say Goodnight, Gracie (2002). In 2014 she performed in The Underpants in Hartford, Connecticut. She also starred in Dan Clancy's play Middletown from 2019 until 2021.

In January 2016, she had a cameo as Vi in the Grease: Live television special on Fox, thus being the only actress to appear in all three screen adaptations of the franchise. In addition, she has appeared in numerous other roles on television.

In 2019, Conn was a contestant on the eleventh series of the British television series Dancing on Ice. At 67, she was the oldest person ever to compete on the show.Dancing On Ice star opens up on being oldest contestant in 2019 series , OK! Magazine; accessed January 20, 2019. She, alongside her professional partner Łukasz Różycki, were eliminated in Week 4, after the judges saved Saara Aalto and Hamish Gaman in the skate-off.

Activism Conn's adopted son Daniel is autistic. On November 13, 2008, she was named national celebrity spokesperson for Autism Speaks.Didi Conn Named a National Celebrity Spokesperson for Autism Speaks, AutismSpeaks.org, November 14, 2008. Before that, she was a spokesperson for the National Alliance for Autism Research, which became part of Autism Speaks. She has performed at benefits for Foundation for Educating Children with Autism (FECA).

On September 27, 2008, Conn performed with David Shire and Lynne Wintersteller at a benefit performance for Barack Obama in Nyack, New York.Sept 27, 2008 Obama Benefit performance, NyackNewsandViews.com, September 21, 2008.

Personal life She married her first husband, Frank Conn, in 1975 and they divorced in 1978. She has been married to composer David Shire since 1984.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes1977 Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure Raggedy Ann (voice) Animated film You Light Up My Life Laurie Robinson Singing voice provided by Kvitka Cisyk1978 Grease Frenchy Almost Summer Donna DeVito 1981 Violet Violet Short film 1982 Grease 2 Frenchy 1983 The Magic Show Cal 2000 Thomas and the Magic Railroad Stacy Jones 2002 Frida Waitress 2005 Shooting Vegetarians Patrice 2006 Helen at Risk Helen Short film 2008 Oh Baby! David's Mom 2018 Most Likely to Murder Fran Green 2020 The Mimic The Gossip Lady 2021 One December Night Norma TBA Weekend Warriors TBA Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1973 Genesis II TV Actress TV movie1975 Happy Days Joyce Episode: "Kiss Me Sickly" The Rookies Young Woman Episode: "Measure of Mercy" 1976–77 The Practice Helen 27 episodes 1976–1984 Tattletales Herself 10 episodes, airing September 06-10, 1976 and April 02-06, 1984 1977 Handle with Care Jackie Morse TV pilot1978 Three on a Date Eve Harris TV movie Match Game Herself (panelist) 6 episodes, 1 for PM Murder at the Mardi Gras Julie Evans TV movie 1980 Semi-Tough Kiki Episode: "One Bad Apple" 1980–81 The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang Cupcake (voice) 24 episodes 1981–84 Benson Denise Stevens Downey 72 episodes 1982 American Playhouse Receptionist Episode: "Working" 1983 The Love Boat Jenny Episode: "Love on Strike" 1983-84 The (New) $25,000 Pyramid Herself 25 episodes1984 Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour Herself (celebrity panelist) Five episodes, airing July 16–20, 1984 ABC Weekend Special Dimples (voice) Episode: "Bad Cat"1985 Hotel Patty Maloney Episode: "Sleeping Dogs" Star Fairies Spice (voice) TV movie The Jetsons Cousin Melissa Episode: "Judy Takes Off" The $100,000 Pyramid Herself 5 episodes aired December 9, 1985 to December 13, 19851987 Cagney & Lacey Dinah Roswell Episode: "Waste Deep" Highway to Heaven Wanda / Birdy Belker Episodes: "All That Glitters", "Ghost Rider" 1989–93 Shining Time Station Stacy Jones, Gracie Jones 65 episodes1990 The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda Additional voices Episode: "Pity the Poor Pirate" Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift Stacy Jones TV special 1992 Civil Wars Hilary Schoenfeld Episode: "Till Debt Do Us Part" 1993 A Flintstone Family Christmas Stella (voice) TV special 1994 L.A. Law Penny Tressman Episode: "He Ain't Guilty, He's My Brother"1995 Shining Time Station: Once Upon a Time Stacy Jones TV special Shining Time Station: Second Chances TV special Shining Time Station: One of the Family TV special Shining Time Station: Queen for a Day TV special Cybill Sitcom Mom Episode: "The Cheese Stands Alone" 1998 Saturday Night Live Herself Episode: "Steve Buscemi/Third Eye Blind" 2002 Rugrats Caroller (voice) Episode: "Babies in Toyland Part 1"2003 Stanley Mrs. Goldberg (voice) Episode: "Going-Away Goose/Time to Climb!" The Wild Thornberrys Muskox #2 (voice) Episode: "Clash and Learn" 2008–10 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Nurse 3 episodes 2011 Gigantic Didi Conn Episode: "Scramble" 2012 Didi Lightful Didi Lightful (voice) TV pilot 2015 Transparent Joyce Feldman Episode: "The Book of Life"2016 The Call Corrine TV pilot Grease: Live Vi TV movie2019 Dancing on Ice Herself (contestant) 4 episodes, Series 11 Welcome to the Wayne Oldest Annacille (voice) Episode: "Some Sort of Bad Luck Curse" 2022 Blue Bloods Mrs. Devlin Episode: "Where We Stand" 2023 Harlan Coben's Shelter Mrs. Friedman Season 1: Episodes 1-6 2025 Overcompensating Janet 2 episodes2026 Best Medicine Geneva Potter Season 1: Recurring cast member Elsbeth Bev Corman season 3 episode 16 "Murder, He Wrote"

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